Noise level: Moderate, although the Cuban salsa soundtrack might prompt a flashback to that one time you were in Havana with Hyman Roth and realized your brother had to go.

Stepping inside Boulder's Cuba Cuba Sandwicheria, one gets a sense this eatery embraces both the old and the new.

Cheerful colors, friendly service and an airy ambience evoke a low-key island hangout that make for a fresh take on fast, casual dining. Yet there's also more than a whisper of tradition conveyed by the menu, which includes such old-school highlights as Cubano sandwiches and potent Cuban coffees.

This a popular spot for those hungry for order-at-the-counter fare that's neither a dirigible-like burrito nor an upscale burger. Unsurprisingly, most of the menu consists of hot sandwiches and main course plates sided with beans and rice.

During a recent weekday lunch, my dining companions and I dug into a variety of sandwiches and plates, along with a smattering of Cuban sides and sweets.

A $7 vegetable ajiaco plate, touted as a main dish mix of roasted seasonal vegetables, included carrots, mushrooms and squash. Plantain reinforced this preparation's Caribbean bona fides, as did a zingy Creole sauce that made for a more satisfying flavor profile than most other meatless platters. Surprisingly, the carrots were more fibrous than one would have liked, although the other veggies possessed a more giving consistency.

A similar $7 platter featured an all-natural boneless chicken breast. Although, this poultry was a little drier than I've experienced on previous visits, garlicky mojo sauce provided considerable compensation for this minor shortfall. Classic accompaniments of fluffy white rice and satisfying black beans lent considerable substance to this plate.

Sides clock in at $2.50 apiece, and our choices included plantain chips, heftier sweet plantains and Cuban fries. The plantain chips are a thicker, earthier-tasting alternative to those made of potato and arrived lightly dusted with salt. These were fine, although not quite as interesting or flavorful as the other two. Cuban fries, with their shoestring sizing, were properly hot and crisp while assertively seasoned with garlic and lime. Fried plantain pieces possessed natural sweetness enveloped by a fried exterior that remained crisp without a hint of sogginess. For a first-time Cuba Cuba visitor, this plump plantain is the preferred choice.

The sweet plantain chips at Cuba Cuba are thicker and earthier-tasting than ones made of potato. (Paul Aiken / Daily Camera)

The winning $8 minuta de pescado, or mahi tempura sandwich, has as much in common with a fast-food fish-wich as Celia Cruz does to Justin Bieber. The batter enveloping the firm white fish is crisp and not too heavy, and the sandwich comes accented with peppy but not mouth-burning habanero aioli on a whole grain baguette. The enjoyably crusty bread echoed the fish's crunch, and lemony slaw complemented the mahi's freshness.

A flagship item, the $7 Cubano sandwich is a souped-up cousin of the Croque Monsieur, adding roast pork to a pressed ham and Swiss. Pickle and mustard garnishes added a needed hint of tang and zip, steering the sandwich away from blandness. The Cubano is substantial, which isn't surprising, as this sandwich originated as fare for workers, notably cigar-factory employees, in both Cuba and Florida. The salty smokiness of the ham played nicely with the creaminess of the cheese. However, the flavors weren't quite as assertive as dishes garnished with the bright and pungent mojo or habanero aioli.

Of our pair of $3 desserts, the tres leches cake took a close second to the silky flan. The three-milk white sponge cakes came adorned with so much whipped cream that one of my dining companions thought we had ordered a bowl of everybody's favorite dessert topping. The abundance of whipped cream was not a bad thing. I was ambivalent about the cake's somewhat coarse texture, and while it wasn't soggy, as some tres leches tend to get, I was wanting something a touch smoother.

The flan possessed a delightful caramel-infused sweetness and impossibly smooth consistency. It would be all to easy to polish off an embarrassingly large quantity of this custard. We washed it all down with $2.50 cafe con leche, a shot of potent espresso topped off with sugar and plenty of steamed milk, making for a sweet and frothy drink that also could have served as dessert.

"Fast, cheap and good — pick any two" goes the old saw about what one can realistically expect when buying something. Cuba Cuba serves meals that are quick to arrive at the table, cost less than $10 and are of a quality exceeding the price. By doing so, this sandwicheria makes a strong argument that it is sometimes possible to enjoy a meal possessing all three of this axiom's attributes.

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